The concept of the kinetic chain originated in 1875, when a mechanical engineer named Franz Reuleaux proposed that if a series of overlapping segments were connected via pin joints, these interlocking joints would create a system that would allow the movement of one joint to affect the movement of another joint within the kinetic link. Dr. Arthur Steindler adapted this theory in 1955, and included an analysis of human movement. Steindler suggested that the extremities be viewed as a series of rigid, overlapping segments and defined the kinetic chain as a "combination of several successively arranged joints constituting a complex motor unit." The movements that occur within these segments present as two primary types—open and closed.

Open-chain Movement

Steindler defined open kinetic chain is defined as a combination of successively arranged joints in which the terminal segment can move freely. In an open-chain movement, the distal aspect of the extremity, or the end of the chain farthest from the body, moves freely and is not fixed to an object. Here are some examples of open-chain exercises:

Seated leg extension

Leg curl

Bench press

Dumbbell biceps curl

Lat pull-down

Closed-chain MovementSteindler defined closed-kinetic chain exercise as a condition or environment in which the distal segment meets considerable external resistance and restrains movement. In a closed-chain movement, the distal end of the extremity is fixed, emphasizing joint compression and, in turn, stabilizing the joints. Closed-chain exercises, such as the examples below, are considered to be more functional than open-chain exercises.

Squat

Wall slides

Lunges

Elliptical training

Stair stepper

Versa Climber

Push-ups

Understanding how the body and all of its segments work together is essential for developing effective exercise programs. Furthermore, knowing the difference between open- and closed-chain movements can help you to select appropriate exercises based on the individual needs of each client.

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Want to feel better, have more energy and perhaps even live longer? Look no further than exercise. The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore. And the benefits of exercise are yours for the taking, regardless of your age, sex or physical ability. Need more convincing to exercise? Check out these seven ways exercise can improve your life.

No. 1: Exercise controls weight Exercise can help prevent excess weight gain or help maintain weight loss. When you engage in physical activity, you burn calories. The more intense the activity, the more calories you burn. You don't need to set aside large chunks of time for exercise to reap weight-loss benefits. If you can't do an actual workout, get more active throughout the day in simple ways — by taking the stairs instead of the elevator or revving up your household chores.

No. 3: Exercise improves mood Need an emotional lift? Or need to blow off some steam after a stressful day? A workout at the gym or a brisk 30-minute walk can help. Physical activity stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed. You may also feel better about your appearance and yourself when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem.

No. 4: Exercise boosts energy Winded by grocery shopping or household chores? Regular physical activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance. Exercise and physical activity deliver oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and help your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. And when your heart and lungs work more efficiently, you have more energy to go about your daily chores.

Keratoconus (from Greek: kerato- horn, cornea; and konos cone) is a degenerative disorder of the eye in which structural changes within the cornea cause it to thin and change to a more conical shape than the more normal gradual curve. Keratoconus can cause substantial distortion of vision, with multiple images, streaking and sensitivity to light all often reported by the patient. It is typically diagnosed in the patient's adolescent years. If afflicting both eyes, the deterioration in vision can affect the patient's ability to drive a car or read normal print. In most cases, corrective lenses fitted by a specialist are effective enough to allow the patient to continue to drive legally and likewise function normally. Further progression of the disease may require surgery, for which several options are available including intrastromal corneal ring segments, cross-linking, mini asymmetric radial keratotomy and, in 25% of cases, corneal transplantation. Estimates of the prevalence for keratoconus range from 1 in 500 to 1 in 2000 people, but difficulties with differential diagnosis cause uncertainty as to its prevalence. It seems to occur in populations throughout the world, although it is observed more frequently in certain ethnic groups, such as South Asians. Environmental and genetic factors are considered possible causes, but the exact cause is uncertain. It has been associated with detrimental enzyme activity within the cornea, and is more common in patients with Down syndrome.

Definitions of what constitutes dance can depend on social and cultural norms and aesthetic, artistic and moral sensibilities. Definitions may range from functional movement (such as folk dance) to virtuoso techniques such as ballet. Martial arts kata are often compared to dances, and sports such as gymnastics, figure skating and synchronized swimming are generally thought to incorporate dance. There are many styles and genres of dance. African dance is interpretative. Ballet, ballroom and tango are classical dance styles. Square dance and electric slide are forms of step dance, and breakdancin is a type of street dance. Dance can be participatory, social, or performed for an audience. It can also be ceremonial, competitive or erotic. Dance movements may be without significance in themselves, as in ballet or European folk dance, or have a gesturalvocabulary or symbolic meaning as in some Asian dances.Choreography is the art of creating dances. The person who creates (i.e., choreographs) a dance is known as the choreographer. History of dance Dance does not leave behind clearly identifiable physical artifacts such as stone tools, hunting implements or cave paintings. It is not possible to say when dance became part of human culture, but archeological evidence indicates dance has been an important part of ceremony, rituals, celebrations and entertainment since the earliest human civilizations. One of the earliest structured uses of dances may have been the telling of myths. Before the invention of written languages, dance was one of the methods of passing stories down from generation to generation. Dance was also used to show feelings for one of the opposite gender. It is also linked to the origin of "love making." Another early use of dance may have been as a precursor to ecstatictrance states in healing rituals. Dance is still used for this purpose by many cultures from the Brazilian rainforest to the Kalahari Desert. Many contemporary dance forms are related to aboriginal, mythical devils known as "yakkas", and according to local legend, Kandyan dance began as a ritual that broke the magic spell on a bewitched king.

Degree of processing Many people are starting to turn to sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup because sugar isn't as processed. As more people are trying to keep their food intake as unprocessed as possible, this seems to make sense.

It’s important to keep in mind, however, that the best form of sugar will be the natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables, which also supply antioxidants as well as fiber. A high intake of either sugar or fructose can potentially lead to issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Minimizing the damage from consumption When it comes to choosing which sweetener you should be using, you’re going to face some trade-offs. Do you want to control blood sugar levels? Or are you trying to prevent feeling drained come 2 p.m. after you’ve downed your lunchtime sugar-laden coffee?

Either way you look at it, both of these sweeteners are providing excess calories to the body, and when these calories are not burned, they are going to be stored as body fat. Additional body fat puts you at risk for a whole number of diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and osteoporosis.

You’re always going to be best off to try and remove both sweeteners from your diet and instead focus on complex sources of carbohydrates such as vegetables, potatoes, whole grains, and brown rice, along with the natural sugars found in fruit. These will give you well-rounded nutrition without all the excess calories.

If you must have sweeteners in your diet, try to eat them around your workout, as this is when they will be used up by the muscle tissues, decreasing the negative impact on your body.

A sweet deal? Just because sugar’s reputation is being burnished, don’t be too quick to start adding sugar into your diet thinking it’s somehow good for you. Regardless of whether high-fructose corn syrup is worse than sugar, there are still far superior forms of carbohydrates out there to be putting into your body, such as oatmeal, whole grain breads, brown rice, sweet potatoes, fruits, and vegetables.

You can add whole grains to your meals without cooking, simply by choosing breads, breakfast cereals, and other prepared whole grain foods. If you'd like to enjoy delicious whole grains at home as a side dish, however, here are some guidelines for cooking them from scratch.Plain Grains, general directions Cooking most grains is very similar to cooking rice. You put the dry grain in a pan with water or broth, bring it to a boil, then simmer until the liquid is absorbed. Pasta is generally cooked in a larger amount of water; the excess is drained away after cooking. Don't be intimidated!

Grain Pilaf, general directions Brown small bits of onion, mushroom and garlic in a little oil in a saucepan. Add grain and cook briefly, coating the grains in oil. Then add broth in the amount specified below, and cook until all liquid is absorbed.

Important: Time Varies Grains can vary in cooking time depending on the age of the grain, the variety, and the pans you're using to cook. When you decide they're tender and tasty, they're done. If the grain is not as tender as you like when "time is up," simply add more water and continue cooking. Or, if everything seems fine before the liquid is all absorbed, simply drain the excess.Shortcut If you want to cook grains more quickly, let them sit in the allotted amount of water for a few hours before cooking. Just before dinner, add extra water if necessary, then cook. You'll find that cooking time is much shorter with a little pre-soaking Another shortcut is to cook whole grains in big batches. Grains keep 3-4 days in your fridge and take just minutes to warm up with a little added water or broth. You can also use the leftovers for cold grain salads (just toss with chopped veggies, dressing, and anything else that suits your fancy), or toss a few handfuls into some canned soup. Cook once, then take it easy. There are also many quick-cooking grain side-dishes on the market, even including 90-second brown rice.

Hair transplantation is a surgical technique that moves individual hair follicles from a part of the body called the 'donor site' to bald or balding part of the body known as the 'recipient site'. It is primarily used to treat male pattern baldness. In this minimally invasive procedure, grafts containing hair follicles that are genetically resistant to balding are transplanted to the bald scalp. It can also be used to restore eyelashes, eyebrows, beard hair, chest hair, pubic hair and to fill in scars caused by accidents or surgery such as face-lifts and previous hair transplants. Hair transplantation differs from skin grafting in that grafts contain almost all of the epidermis and dermis surrounding the hair follicle, and many tiny grafts are transplanted rather than a single strip of skin. Since hair naturally grows in groupings of 1 to 4 hairs, today’s most advanced techniques harvest and transplant these naturally occurring 1–4 hair "follicular units" in their natural groupings. Thus modern hair transplantation can achieve a natural appearance by mimicking nature hair for hair. This hair transplant procedure is called Follicular Unit Transplantation(FUT). Donor hair can be harvested two different ways: strip harvesting, and follicular unit extraction (FUE).

History The use of both scalp flaps, in which a band of tissue with its original blood supply is shifted to the bald area, and free grafts dates back to the 19th century. Modern transplant techniques began in Japan in the 1930s, where surgeons used small grafts, and even "follicular unit grafts" to replace damaged areas of eyebrows or lashes, but not to treat baldness. Their efforts did not receive worldwide attention at the time, and the traumas of World War II kept their advances isolated for another two decades. The modern era of hair transplantation in the western world was ushered in the late 1950s, when New York dermatologistNorman Orentreich began to experiment with free donor grafts to balding areas in patients with male pattern baldness. Previously it had been thought that transplanted hair would thrive no more than the original hair at the "recipient" site. Dr. Orentreich demonstrated that such grafts were "donor dominant," as the new hairs grew and lasted just as they would have at their original home. Advancing the theory of donor dominance, Walter P. Unger, M.D. defined the parameters of the "Safe Donor Zone" from which the most permanent hair follicles could be extracted for hair transplantation. As transplanted hair will only grow in its new site for as long as it would have in its original one, these parameters continue to serve as the fundamental foundation for hair follicle harvesting, whether by strip method or FUE. For the next twenty years, surgeons worked on transplanting smaller grafts, but results were only minimally successful, with 2–4 mm "plugs" leading to a doll's head-like appearance. In the 1980s, Uebel in Brazil popularized using large numbers of small grafts, while in the United States Dr. William Rassman began using thousands of “micrografts” in a single session. In the late 1980s, Dr. B.L. Limmer introduced the use of the stereo-microscope to dissect a single donor strip into small micrografts. The follicular unit hair transplant procedure has continued to evolve, becoming more refined and minimally invasive as the size of the graft incisions have become smaller. These smaller and less invasive incisions enable surgeons to place a larger number of follicular unit grafts into a given area. With the new "gold standard" of ultra refined follicular unit hair transplantation, over 50 grafts can be placed per square centimeter, when appropriate for the patient. Surgeons have also devoted more attention to the angle and orientation of the transplanted grafts. The adoption of the “lateral slit” technique in the early 2000s, enabled hair transplant surgeons to orient 2 to 4 hair follicular unit grafts so that they splay out across the scalp's surface. This enabled the transplanted hair to lie better on the scalp and provide better coverage to the bald areas. One disadvantage however, is that lateral incisions also tend to disrupt the scalp's vascularity more than sagittals. Thus sagittal incisions transect less hairs and blood vessels assuming the cutting instruments are of the same size. One of the big advantages of sagittals is that they do a much better job of sliding in and around existing hairs to avoid follicle transection. This certainly makes a strong case for physicians who do not require shaving of the recipient area. The lateral incisions bisect existing hairs perpendicular (horizontal) like a T while sagittal incisions run parallel (vertical) alongside and in between existing hairs. The use of perpendicular (lateral/coronal) slits versus parallel (sagittal) slits, however, has been heavily debated in patient-based hair transplant communities. Many elite hair transplant surgeons typically adopt a combination of both methods based on what is best for the individual patient. With the latest improvements in surgical technique and especially with the FUE procedure, the recovery time is immediate and the pain negligible. There is no bed rest or hospitalization required after the hair transplant. Today 85% of hair transplants work

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This tell it like it is Trainer is no stranger to educating others. If you want real results without spending thousands of dollars, Operation Shape Up has the answers for you. The daily blog is intended to assist you getting over the hurdles.